Sliding doors locking arrangement



Jan. 21, 1964 G. I. HOLMES SLIDING DOORS LOCKING ARRANGEMENT Filed Feb. 16, 1961 INVENTOR. GIFFORD I. HOLMES ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,1133% SLIDINQ DGGPS LQCZHNG ARRANGEMENT Gifford l. Holmes, Neponset, ill, assignor to American Air Filter Company, lnen, Louisville, Ky, a corporation of ll elaware Filed Feb. 16, 195i, der. No. 89,817 8 Claims. (Cl. 70- 1%) This invention relates generally to a locking arangement for sliding doors of the bypassing type. The invention is particularly well suited for incorporation in floor mounted storage cabinets of the type often used with classroom unit ventilators and will therefore be described in that connection.

t is desirable that such storage cabinets be available Without doors, or with doors but no locks, or with both doors and locks. From the ma. ufacturing standpoint it is therefore preferable that any locking arrangement for the doors be of the type which does not require its incorporation in the frame of the cabinet proper, and which may be readily omitted from stock production doors.

One current locking arrangement which meets these preferences is a lock of the portable type having a lock body which slides upon a bar, an example of such a lock being shown in US. Patent No. 2,720,102. As currently used, one end of t e bar for such a lock is a detent or a hook which engages one edge of the inner door, and the lock body is then slid from the opposite end of the bar into abutting relation with the vertical edge of the outer door. Such a locking arrangement is unsatisfactory in certain respects however. For example, the loci: body must be detached from the bar to open the cabinet and is thus subject to being misplaced. Also the bar is normally installed about half way up the height of the doors so that on a cabinet of 28 or 30 inches height, the lock is perhaps 16 inches on the floor. Since the lock body is normally disposed so that the key must be inserted horizontally, this requires that from a standing position one must either bend over immoderately or must squat to operate the lock. it will thus be appreciated that such a locking arrangement is not entirely acceptable.

The principal object of the present invention is the provision of a locking arrangement which avoids some of the problems encountered with a portable lock and is also superior to certain other locking arrangements.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the inention, a lock of the cylindrical type is mounted on one upper cor er of the outer door in tilted relation to the plane of the door. The lock bolt, carried on the inner end of the rotatable inner barrel or plug, projects eccentrically from the plug inner end and at an angle relative to the plug axis so that ope ation of the lock moves the bolt into and out of engaging relation with a strike on the inner door.

r nnon the specific advantages of the improved locking mangement over certain known arrangements, the following are presently considered to be noteworthy. The arrangement does not require that the frame of the cabinet proper be modified to receive any part of the locking arrangement. With the lock mounted adjacent the top edge of the doors and tilted upwardly, locking and unlocking are facilitated. The arrangement lends itself to a bolt and strike form which constrain the doors against movement in several directions when locked.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein one embodiment incorporating the principles of the invention is shown by way of example, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a cabinet embodying the invention and having a pair of front sliding doors shown in a closed position;

3,ll8,23 Patented Jan. 21, l fid FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary isometric view showing the position of the lock relative to the upper lapping portions of the doors in a position for locking;

FIGURE 3 is a preferred fragmentary vertical sectional View taken along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary isometric View showing one form of bolt carried at the inner end of the lock; and,

'FlGURE 5 is a fragmentary isometric view showing the strike plate mounted in operative position at one upper corner of the inner door.

The cabinet illustrated in FIGURE 1 is normally mounted on the door with its rear against a building wall. The rectangular front opening of the cabinet is adapted to be either closed, or partially open, in accordance with the position of a pair of bypassing, horizontally slidable doors.

The front opening of the cabinet is defined at the top by an upper front molding 2, at the bottom by a lower front molding 4, at the left by a vertical flange 6 overlapping the left vertical edge of the left or inner door 8 and at the right by an opposite vertical flange it overlapping the right vertical edge of the right or outer door 12. The doors are slidable in conventional manner in parallel planes with the marginal upper and lower edges of the doors confined within respective upper and lower parallel channels. Preferably the upper channels are of somewhat greater depth than the lower channels so that an unlocked door may he installed, or removed, by elevating it within the upper channel and swinging the lower end of the door in or out in clearing relation to the lower channel.

Adjacent both vertical edges of both doors a forwardly-open recess or channel extending for substantially the height of the door is provided. These channels will herein be characterized as finger pulls, although it will be appreciated that with hollow sheet metal doors, which is the presently preferred construction, this configuration also serves to stifien the door against racking in a vertical direction. As may be seen in FZGURE 1, when the doors are in a position closing the front of the cabinet, the finger pulls 14- and -16 at the left and right ends respectively of the cabinet are partially overlapped by the opposite flanges 6 and 1d, and the right fin er pull 18 of the left door 8 is completely lapped by the left finger pull Ztl of the right door 12.

Passing now to the locking arrangement for the doors, the lock 22 is shown in FIGURE 1 in mounted position adjacent the top of the left finger pull 29 of the right hand door 12. It is carried by a lock mounting bracket 24 (FIGURES 2 and 3) partially recessed in the left finger pull. The bracket body may conveniently be of one piece metal construction formed into a configuration including, in order from top to bottom: a top, rearwardlydirected, horizontally-disposed, flange 26 having its rear edge abutting the recessed face 28 of the finger pull; an upper, vertically-disposed, face portion 3i} lying in about the same plane as the front face of the door 12; a central portion in the general form of a rearwardly-open, righttriangular, hollow prism including an upwardly-tilted, square, lock-receiving, face 32, an underlying, downwardly-tilted, rectangular face 34, and opposite side, triangular faces 36; a lower, vertically-disposed, face portion 38 lying in the same plane as the upper face portion 39; and a bottom, rearwardly-directed, horizontallydisposed flange 40 having its rear edge abutting the recessed face 23 of the linger pull.

To permit securing the bracket 24 to the door 12, nuts 42 are welded to the inner faces of the upper and lower face portions 39 and 33 in a position to receive bolts 44 passing through suitable holes in the recessed face 28 of the finger pull 29. Between the two holes through which the bolts 4-4- pass, a considerably larger hole 4-6 is provided to permit movement of the lock bolt between the extreme positions to be hereinafter desc ibed.

The upwardly-tilted lock receiving face 32 of the bracket has a square sided hole 84 which receives the body of a conventional cylindrical lock of the type having an inner rotary plug or barrel 53. The front shoulder 52 of the lock seats against the bracket front face 32 and is held in this position by the nut 54 which is turned up tightly on exterior threads on the lock body until it seats against the rear of the front face. From the described disposition of the bracket, it will be apparent that the bracket holds the lock in inclined relation to the plane in which the front door lies; the axis around which the plug 5% turns being normal to the plane of the front face 32 of the bracket.

The irmer or rear end of the plug 50 lies sufhciently forwardly of the plane in which the left or inner door 8 is movable that when the lock is in an unlocked position, the left door may be slid without interference from the lock. However, the inner end of the plug carries a rearwardly-projecting latching bolt 56 which, when the plug is rotated one way or another through 180 by the key 53, moves between the solid line (locked) and dotted line (unlocked) positions shown in IGURE 3. The base portion of the bolt, which is in the general form of a semi-circle (FIGURE 4) and is fastened in face-to-face contact with the inner end of the plug by screw 6%, rotates with the plug. The projecting or latching part of the bolt 56 moves through a path generating a geometric surface which may be characterized as a semi frustum of a right cone having an am's corresponding to the plug axis when the bolt is moved between opposite extreme positions by rotation of the plug through 180. This character of surface generated is due to the rearward projection of the bolt at an angle relative to the axis of the plug, and its offset or eccentric mounting on the end of the plug. It is the inclination of the lock relative to a vertical plane, coupled with the angular projection of the bolt relative to the'axis of the lock, which effects the rather substantial etraction and extension of the latching part of the bolt when the lock is turned between extreme positions. In other words, if the latching bolt projected rearwardly along a line parallel to the axis of the lock, the retraction and extension of the bolt as the lock is turned between extreme positions would be considerably less and would be approximately equal to the forward and rearward movement during turning of a point on the circumference of the plug. In this latter case the geometric surface generated by the latching bolt would be a semi right cylinder.

The strike brack t 52 which e bolt 56 is adapted to engage is mounted on the left or inner door 8 adjacent the upper end of the right finger pull 13 as shown inFIG- IRES 3 and 5. The strike bracket is bridge-shaped in form with upper and lower underlying flange portions 64; and 6-5 which seat against the recessed face 68 of the finger pull 1% and receive screws 7 t in tapped holes provided in the flanges. It will be noted in FIGURE 5 that th strike bracket 62 is 'olfset to the left of the vertical centerline of the linger pull 18 so that ample space between the right vertical edge "72 of the strike bracket and the right edge flange 74- of the door is provided to accommodate the arcual movement of the bolt 56 in the locking and unlocking operation.

The right vertical edge 72 of the strike bracket serves as the strike against which the lock bolt 56 engages. The

bolt is preferably provided with a V-shaped notch 76 (FEGUREI) on its leading edge as shown so that when the bolt is moved into loci 5 lg relation with the strike edge 72, the edge is received within the notch; With the notch provided on the bolt, locking of the doors restricts their movement in both a iront-to-rear direction and a horizontal bypassing direction, although it is possible to elevate one or both doors within the limits of the upper and lower guide channels. It will be appreciated however that both the bolt ss and strike edge 72 may be so provided with notches as to prevent movement in all three geometricahy normal directions, or the strike alone may be notched so that elevational and sliding movement are constrained with some limited front-to-rear movement possible.

e principles of the invention may be incorporated in ing doors which are structurally somewhat different from the specific embodiment shown in the drawing. Th1. for example, if the front face of the inner door is not recessed where the strike is to be located, an opening may be provided in the face of the door with one edge portion of the opening serving as the strike.

While the invention has been described in connection with a iloor mounted cabinet, it may also be used to advantage in connection with cabinets positioned at head level and above. In this case the same doors used floor mounted cabinets are used, but they are installed in topfor-bottom and reversed relation so that the lock is adjacent the lower edge of the doors and is tilted downwardly.

The invention claimed is:

1. in a locking arrangement for inner and outer vertically disposed, horizontally sliding doors adapted to be 0 erated to a locking position wherein portions of said doors lap each other, lock apparatus comprisin a cylindrical lock having an inner revolving plug mounted adjacent the top of said outer door lapping portion; means mounting said lock to project forwardly and upwardly relative to said outer door and with the inner end of said plug forwardly of the plane of said inner door; a latching bolt ri "ly secured to the inner end of said plug to pro- -o ject rearwardly from said inner end at a fixed acute angle relative to the axis of said plug and offset from the axis of said plug w reby rotation of said plug through causes movement of said latching bolt to generate a semi frustum of a right cone surface having an axis aligned with said plug axis said lock being so disposed, relative to the plane of said inner door, that a portion of said cone surface intersects the plane through which said inner door is movable.

2. In a sliding door-locldng arrangement for a pair of horizontally sliding doors of the bypassing type carried in a floor-mounted cabinet of the character described: an inner door having a forwardly-open, vertically-extending channel along the marginal edge portion of said inner door adapted to be lapped in a door-locking position; an outer door having a corresponding forwardly-open, vertically-extending channel on its marginal edge portion adapted to lap said inner door in a door-locking position; strike means mounted near the top of said inner door channel; a cylindrical lock near the top of said outer door channel in upwardly-tilted relation; a cylindrical lock, having an inner rotatable plug, carried by said mounting means with the inner end of said plug spaced forwardly of the path of movement of said inner door; a latching bolt rigidly secured to the inner end of said plug for ro,-

to one side of said channel so that an open space is pro-' vided between the vertical strike edge of said member and the opposed wall of said channel; 7

4. The arrangement of claim 3 wherein: said strikeengaging portion of said bolt includes a notch in its leadin? edge, said notch being disposed to engage said vertical strike edge in a locking position.

5. neck apparatusadapted to be mounted in tilted rela tion on a vertically disposed front sliding door, comprising:

(a) a cylindrical lock having an inner rotatable plug disposed forwardly of the rear face of said door, said lock being disposed with its axis at an acute angle relative to the plane of said door so that it is inclined with respect to a horizontal plane; and,

(b) a latching bolt rigidly secured to the inner end of said plug for rotation therewith about an axis coincident with the axis of said plug, said bolt projecting rearwardly therefrom both at an acute angle relative to the axis of said plug and in eccentric relation from the axis of said plug, said acute angle being Suficiently great that said bolt does not project substantially beyond the rear face of said door when said plug is rotated to an unlocking position.

6. Lock apparatus for a vertically disposed outer sliding door, comprising;

(a) a lock mounting bracket, adapted to be mounted on said door, including a tilted face portion having an opening therein for receiving a cylindrical lock;

([2) a cylindrical lock, having an inner revolving plug, mounted in said opening of said bracket with the inner end or" said plug forwardly disposed relative to the rear face of said outer door, and with the axis of said lock normal to said tilted face portion so that said lock axis is inclined with respect to a horizontal plane; and

(c) a bolt rigidly mounted on the inner end of said revolving plug for rotation therewith about an axis coincident with the axis of said plug, said bolt projecting rearwardly from a point in eccentric relation to the axis of said plug so that the degree of rear- Ward projection by said bolt will vary in accordance with the rotative position of said plug.

7. In a locking arrangement for inner and outer vertically disposed, horizontally sliding doors, operable to a position for locking wherein portions of said doors lap each other, lock apparatus comprising: a cylindrical lock of the type having an inner revolving plug; means for mounting said lock on said outer door lapping portion with its axis disposed in a vertical plane normal to the plane of said outer door, and with said lock axis tilted out of the horizontal plane normal to said outer door; and, a latching bolt rigidly secured to the inner end of said plug for coincident rotation therewith about the rearward extension of the axis of said plug, sa-id latching bolt projecting rearwardly from a location offset from the axis of said plug, and at a fixed acute angle therewith, so that said bolt generates a semi-frustum of a right cone having its axis coinciding with the axis of said plug as said plug is revolved between locked and unlocked positions.

8. In the locking arrangement of claim 7: said latching bolt includes means forming a strike engaging notch on the leading edge thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,907,625 Vogt May 9, 1933 2,249,214 Kurtzon July 15, 1941 2,448,748 Vanderveld Sept. 7, 1943 2,717,512 Sterling et al. Sept. 13, 1955 2,720,102 Spain Oct. 11, 1955 2,855,772 Hillgren Oct. 14, 1958 2,956,428 Check Oct. 18, 1960 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CGRRECTION Patent No. 3 ll8 298 January 21 1964 Gifford 1. Holmes It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered pat ent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below,

Column 3 line 6 for "84" read 48 column 4 lin 54 after "channelg" insert means for mounting Signed and sealed this 9th day of June 1964.

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST W; SWIDER EDWARD J. BRENNER Arresting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

7. IN A LOCKING ARRANGEMENT FOR INNER AND OUTER VERTICALLY DISPOSED, HORIZONTALLY SLIDING DOORS, OPERABLE TO A POSITION FOR LOCKING WHEREIN PORTIONS OF SAID DOORS LAP EACH OTHER, LOCK APPARATUS COMPRISING: A CYLINDRICAL LOCK OF THE TYPE HAVING AN INNER REVOLVING PLUG; MEANS FOR MOUNTING SAID LOCK ON SAID OUTER DOOR LAPPING PORTION WITH ITS AXIS DISPOSED IN A VERTICAL PLANE NORMAL TO THE PLANE OF SAID OUTER DOOR, AND WITH SAID LOCK AXIS TILTED OUT OF THE HORIZONTAL PLANE NORMAL TO SAID OUTER DOOR; AND, A LATCHING BOLT RIGIDLY SECURED TO THE INNER END OF 